U.K. Wind Energy Jobs Surge 91 Percent, Study Says

The U .K . is banking on wind energy to help meet its European Union target of deriving 15 percent of energy for electricity, heat and transportation from renewables by 2020. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Employment in the U.K. wind power
industry has surged 91 percent in three years, the RenewableUK
lobby group said today.

The number of people employed full-time in the large-scale
onshore and offshore wind energy industry rose to about 9,200 in
2010 from 4,800 in 2007, RenewableUK said today in an e-mailed
report. Belfast Harbour plans to create 300 full-time jobs in a
40-million pound ($65-million) project to build a new quay for
use by Dong Energy A/S to assemble turbines and foundations, the
port and wind farm operator said today in a separate statement.

The U.K. is banking on wind energy to help meet its
European Union target of deriving 15 percent of energy for
electricity, heat and transportation from renewables by 2020.
Zamudio, Spain-based Gamesa Corporacion Tecnologica said on Jan.
20 that it plans to open an offshore wind technology facility in
Glasgow, and Siemens AG the same day said it will open a new
factory in Hull.

“The growth in these technologies as well as small wind
systems and marine is set not just to continue but accelerate,
further driving employment,” RenewableUK Chief Executive
Officer Maria McCaffery said in the report.

Including wave and tidal power, and small-scale wind
turbines, the U.K. now has about 10,800 people working full time
in wind and marine energy industries, the group said. It didn’t
have comparable figures for 2007.

Belfast Project

Dong, Denmark’s largest energy company, and Belfast Harbour
said today in their statement that they signed a letter of
intent for the port in Northern Ireland to build a new 450-meter
(1,476-feet) dock.

As well as 300 permanent posts, the project will create 150
construction jobs, according to the statement. If a final
agreement is reached, Dong will use the dock to assemble
turbines and foundations for its offshore wind projects.

“The United Kingdom has a very ambitious plan for
expanding the production of renewable energy,” Dong Energy Vice
President Peter Gedbjerg said in the statement. “The
possibility of a tailor-made facility to make the installation
of offshore wind turbines even more efficient fits perfectly
with Dong Energy’s goal of bringing down the construction cost
of renewable energy.”

Skaerbaek, Denmark-based Dong Energy already has 308
megawatts of generating capacity at wind farms at Barrow and
Burbo Bank off the U.K.’s west coast and in Gunfleeet Sands in
the southeast. Sites under development include Walney off the
west coast and the London Array, a 630-megawatt plan due for
completion in 2012, when it would become the world’s biggest
offshore wind farm.

Britain has 3.9 gigawatts of installed onshore wind
capacity and 1.3 gigawatts of offshore power, with another 4.1
gigawatts of both land and sea-based turbines being built or
fully contracted to do so, according to the RenewableUK report.
A megawatt of wind capacity powers about 650 typical homes in
the U.K., according to the group.